Monolith Productions

There are two types of stories in video games. The first is the one that the developer wants to tell you. It unfolds just like a movie, taking you down a path that the team intended. It’s David Cage’s approach with his Quantic Dream projects. The second sort of story is more personal: It’s the one you create on your own. It’s the surreal happenstance that comes from driving around Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto V or tossing a knife at the end of a Call of Duty match. It’s the anecdote you recall when you’re sitting with friends.

Developers have experimented with these types of narratives for the past few years, creating branching story arcs or ones that are more open ended. But Monolith Productions is doing something different. The studio known for F.E.A.R. and No One Lives Forever has created a new avenue of storytelling with its Nemesis System in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.

Put succinctly, the team allows you to forge your own procedurally generated story. Director of design Michael de Plater explained the concept at a recent event in San Francisco. He described the setup: You take on the role of Talion, a Gondor ranger guarding the Black Gate at the edge of Mordor. It’s a place that’s been quiet for years until Sauron returns and kills Talion and everyone living in the area.

But through a twist of fate, the ranger is revived with Wraith-like powers. Now, he’s out for revenge against the evil that Frodo and the fellowship eventually fight off in The Lord of the Rings.

When talking with Lucas Myers, associate producer for Gotham City Impostors, I couldn’t help but ask him about Phoenix Jones. For those who don’t follow current events or weird news, he’s part of a crime-prevention patrol group that’s based in Seattle, the same city where Monolith Productions also happens to be based. Jones — his real name is Ben Fodor — dresses up like a masked super hero and tries to fight crime in the city.

He’s halted car break-ins, stopped fights and foiled a supposed bus jacking. Yes, regular citizens are acting like superheroes. It sounds crazy but that also happens to be the premise behind Gotham City Impostors. Myers said that the team heard about Jones and shared the story around the office. “We were like oh my God, Gotham City Impostors is real,” another developer chimed in.

But life imitates art to a point. While Jones and his crew safely stop crime, Gotham City Impostors pits wannabe Batmans against poseurs dressed as Joker in mayhem-filled deathmatches. After working on several dark projects, Monolith Productions is returning to its more comedic side with this team-based shooter (The studio developdNo One Lives Forever series.), and it’s a welcome change.

For Monolith Productions, fear comes in two flavors. The first is the creepy psychological kind. It’s walking down a dark alley, lead pipe in hand, with a serial killer lurking around the corner. This is the fear in the Condemned franchise.

The other kind of fear is of the supernatural, of ghosts and telekenesis that can come at you for no reason at all. This is the fear in, well, F.E.A.R. It’s also the same type of scares in Project Origin, the sequel to the 2005 shooter.

The game takes place where the old one left off. But unlike the story, a few things have been tweaked in gameplay. First off, Monolith has gone with a regenerative health systems similar to what fans saw in Halo. It smooths out the flow of the flow of the game so players aren’t always scrounging around for health pickups, according to Monolith.

Fans will need the help because this time around the team improved the enemy AI. The foes in Project Origin know how to use the environment against players. If the protagonist takes cover behind the car, the enemies will fire at the car until it blows up.

Elsewhere, enemies who are running out of ammo will actually grab a weapon dropped by a fallen comrade.